Teammate Michelle looking at all that Colorado beauty. 200 miles. Elevation topping 9000 feet. Rabbit Ears Pass. 94 degrees during the day. 38 degrees at night. Port-a-Potties and minivans. Relays are awesome. A relay is one of the few opportunities a runner has to genuinely share what is innately a... Continue reading

Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to doing good things. Especially if those good things are something I've been doing for a while, things people have complimented me on, things I feel I have even the smallest of footholds. Oh, I've made some progress? Time to let... Continue reading

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. Emil Zatopek I include this picture of Emil Zatopek for 2 reaons: A) he is one of the greatest runners ever and I like this quote. B) I like to think... Continue reading

This is me running the Crown-Zellerbach trail last weekend. It was my longest run prior to the Eugene Marathon, which takes place next Sunday. An entire post will be dedicated to this trail, as it is epic. I almost don't want to tell folks about it, not out of proprietary... Continue reading

I get loads of advice about running. Run more. Run less. Don't run at all. Wear the thinnest shoes you can find. Go barefoot. Barefoot running is a trend. Nike Nike Nike. Asics Asics Asics. You get the picture. Runners get genuinely excited about what works for them. To run... Continue reading

For the past two weeks I have been taking care of business. Long-delayed business. Health issues, mostly. Oh, nothing serious. All of it just part of The Nag. The hamstring pain that taunts me when I run, the lower back numbness that propels me out of my seat after a... Continue reading

Save Your Ass took part in the the Fanconi/Anemia 12K yesterday. Three of us ran it. One of us raced. We all had a good time. Packet pickup was the day before the race at Foot Traffic on 2nd Avenue and Yamhill. Morgan (on the left) had arranged for us... Continue reading

I have lived near Rocky Butte for nearly a year. It is as near to my home as my favorite running destination, Mt. Tabor, though in the opposite direction. I was aware of its existence but had little idea what the running conditions were like. When I entered "Rocky Butte"... Continue reading

The night before a race I find it hard to sleep. I often am awake, looking at the ceiling, my mind everywhere and anywhere but on the task at hand. My anxiety doesn't knock on the door of my psyche - it kicks it in. The strength of the stress... Continue reading

The word “running” used to conjure up painful and awkward memories of gym class. My middle-school gym teacher, Mrs. Morey, would stand her roly-poly body at the top of the hill behind our school, barking through a megaphone between bites of beef jerky at us red-faced kids as we ran... Continue reading

Camelback Mt, Phoenix I take my vacations in January. My husband and I both work in professions that require us to be available during holidays. We work, others play. I don't mind it, to be honest. I haven't celebrated a Christmas morning with relatives since I was 18 and I... Continue reading

The name grabs you attention, right? Hopefully, you find it amusing. Maybe you're offended. Either way, you're mind is focused on the name. You pause and wait for the pack of runners to move past you. You see the back of the shirt. SYA's hope is that the name will... Continue reading

From the Denver Post: Meyer: Ragnar Relays' Colorado plan is bad way to do business POSTED: 09/27/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT By John Meyer The Denver Post There is a new player in Colorado relay running, and it is already making people angry even though its debut event is 10 months... Continue reading

Winter Solstice by Allison Constantino It is nearly winter solstice and soon we will have light back. Or more of it, anyway. Last night I took to the hills with my running companions, one of whom I hadn't seen since we ran Chicago in October. That is the nature of... Continue reading

When I began this blog, I sternly said to myself, "You will not rant." I quickly modified that statement to, "All the time." I used to be quite the ranter. Growing up, ranting was most of my personality. Words left my mouth in paragraph form, usually complemented by angry facial... Continue reading

Last week an interview with Lauren Fleshman in Track and Field News related to sponsorship and athletes caught my attention. It was reposted on LetsRun.Com ( http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=952&Itemid=118). Lauren Fleshman is an interesting individual, an accomplished track and field star who finished 7th in the 5000 meter final in 2011 IAAF... Continue reading

Two days after Thanksgiving and I still can't say no to the whiskey-soaked apple cake. For breakfast. This Thanksgiving was an intentionally small affair, spent with my husband and another couple we have known for most of our lives, the type of friends we can argue with over the tv... Continue reading

Search This BlogSearch via niemann.blogs.nytimes.com I don't know how many have seen Christopher Niemann's sketches. They were, after all, published in the NYTimes and their readership is, oh, slightly bigger than mine. If you haven't seen these drawings, please take a moment and enjoy. Niemann ran the NYCmarathon while simultaneously... Continue reading

(Not taken today. But it may look like this later this week.) Rain is hard to deal with. Lack of light is harder. Shades of gray diffuse through the many windows in our duplex from morning to early afternoon, yet if I want to read a book I must turn... Continue reading

We hear it at the start and the end of every race, "Volunteers, thank you! This event would not take place without you!" That's not a platitude - that's a race director's brutal honesty. Think of the costs of races currently. Now imagine the limitations imposed on all of us... Continue reading

This is a house I run by 4-5 times a week. It is a house that demands a Halloween costume. (This house is designed to scare children.) Tombstones. Skeletons. Zombies. We'll do a closeup. (I was running. It's a cell phone camera. Plus it's a snazzy neighborhood and I was... Continue reading

(View from Highway 30 in between Mosier and the Rowena View Point) Sunday was the 2011 Columbia Gorge Marathon. Small, hilly, breathtaking. As one participant told me after the race, "This and Big Sur were the two marathons I felt compelled to do." Standing in the October sunshine watching runners... Continue reading